Introducing a Design Framework for a Multi-Modal Public Transportation System, Focusing on Mixed-Fleet Bike-Sharing Systems

Bike-sharing is increasingly becoming more popular. Electric bikes as an emerging transportation technology have extended range and are less physically demanding, compared with regular bicycles, thus they can be incorporated into regular bike-sharing systems to attract more users. This study aims at capturing the users’ preference, while considering investors’ limitations and societal cost and benefits of each mode. The problem is defined as a mixed-integer non-liner problem, with nonlinear objective function and constraints. Because of the computationally challenging nature of the problem, a metaheuristic algorithm based on simulated annealing algorithm is proposed for its solution. The performance of the algorithm is tested in this study and convergence patterns are observed. The main findings of this study which are derived from the hypothetical numerical example, include but are not limited to: (1) the most popular public modes are bus and pedelec, because these two modes (bus and pedelec) are less expensive and have the ability to traverse longer distances in comparison to similar modes (i.e., e-scooter/car and bike), and (2) for small communities with short travel distances (feasible within the ranges of active modes), users would not choose fuel-consuming modes, and thus their choice is insensitive to fuel cost